The Rules of Mah Jong or Mah Jongg The Rules of Mah Jong (Chinese & British versions) Like many other traditional games, there are a wide variety of forms of Mah Jong which makes things somewhat difficult for anyone trying to find the definitive set of rules. The first rules given here are based on the original Chinese game which is the simplest and probably the most skillful form. Also given are additional rules for the British game. This version differs slightly to the typical Chinese game because only one chow is allowed per hand and the Chinese game has fewer "special hands". Some will find the British game more interesting than the Chinese game but the Chinese game is more elegant and traditional. Both games differ significantly from the typical style of play performed in the USA,where a large and complicated set of "special hands" have been invented beyond the initial Chinese set and where a player cannot go Mah Jong with more than one suit in hand. It is also more strategic than the Japanese style of play which is essentially a race to be the first to go out because the only person who gets paid is the one who goes Mah Jong. We also give a version of Mah Jong for 3 players playing in a triangle. See also our quality Mah Jong sets .

Equipment Basic Equipment A set of Mah Jong tiles consists of 144 tiles typically around 30 x 20 x 15mm. Traditionally, they are made from bone or ivory but modern sets are usually plastic. The tiles comprise: 36 Circle tiles in 4 sets of 9 tiles numbered 1- 9. The picture on each shows the appropriate number of circles. 36 Character tiles in 4 sets of 9 tiles numbered 1- 9. The pictures show the Chinese symbol for the number represented. 36 Bamboo tiles in 4 sets of 9 tiles numbered 1- 9. The picture on each shows the appropriate number of bamboos except for the One of Bamboos which often is denoted by a sparrow or rice-bird and doesn't feature a bamboo at all. 1, 5, 7 and 9 of Bamboos are represented by a picture of both red and green bamboos. The other bamboo tiles are represented by green bamboos only. 16 Wind tiles - 4 tiles for each of the 4 winds.

12 Dragon tiles - 4 Red dragons denoted by a bright red character, 4 Green dragons denoted by a bright green character and 4 White dragons which are traditionally denoted by a completely blank tile. However, some sets denote the white dragon with a capital 'P' which stands for 'Pai', meaning white or pure. 4 Flower tiles - The Four Flowers are numbered 1 - 4 and are optional - if used, they give bonus points when drawn. Depiction of the flowers varies hugely between sets but the most common traditionally are Plum blossom, Orchid, Chrysanthemum and Bamboo. 4 Season tiles - The Four Seasons are numbered 1 - 4 and are optional - if used they give bonus points when drawn. Depiction of the seasons varies hugely between sets and they are often not recognisable as a season by people who can't read Chinese. Circles, Characters and Bamboos are known as "suits". The suit tiles numbered 2 - 8 are known as the "minor" tiles. The remaining suit tiles, 1 and 9 are known as the "major" tiles. The Wind and Dragon tiles are known as "honour" tiles.

In addition to the tiles, two dice are required. The 1 and 4 are red on traditional Chinese dice; the remaining numerals are black. Optional Equipment In fact, the tiles and dice are all that is required to play the game and these rules have been written as if no other equipment is available. However, other equipment does usually form part of a set. The following can be used at the discretion of the players if available: Sets often have some spare blank tiles to be used to replace lost tiles. Some Joker tiles are also commonly included. They are denoted by a Chinese horse and are used for the play of another game called Ghoulash. 4 racks are a useful accessory to hold each player's tiles. More expensive sets include four special counters denoting the four winds. These are used, instead of the standard four winds tiles to decide who sits where and are then placed in a special box called a Tong-box with the uppermost tile showing the prevailing wind for each round. Finally most sets come with some tally sticks which are used for scoring. The score can be kept using any medium, of course. Two other popular options are money, for those of a gambling bent, or paper and pencil. There are many varieties of scoring sticks.

It doesn't really matter what values are assigned to each stick as long as it's agreed up front and each player starts off with the same number of each type of stick. For the Japanese or American style games, higher values will need to be assigned but for the Chinese and British versions below, here are typical values to assign for two common stick combinations: No. Sticks Preparation Seating One of each of the the four wind tiles are placed face-down, shuffled and each player takes one. The players seat themselves according to this draw in the clockwise order N - W - S - E. Notice that these are NOT the standard compass positions. East the prevailing wind and the key position since this player starts, scores double and pays double for the round. For the each subsequent round, the positions change in one of two ways: If East wind went out in the previous round, then the positions stay the same and the player who was East wind remains the same for another round If one of the other winds went out in the previous round, the wind positions rotate in an anti-clockwise fashion so that the player who was South wind in the previous round becomes East wind.

In a complete session of Mah Jong, which might take a number of hours to complete, once each player has been East wind, South becomes the prevailing wind. Once South is finished, the prevailing wind becomes West and finally North. The session ends when each player has played as the prevailing North wind. Obviously, it isn't necessary to complete a session - playing a set number of rounds or to a target score is just as good. Building the Wall The Flowers and Seasons are not normally used in the Chinese game and these rules assume that they are not used. All the tiles are shuffled thoroughly face down by South and North in a ritual that is called "The twittering of the sparrows". Once done, each player takes 34 tiles and positions them in a wall, 2 tiles high and 17 tiles long. The tiles should have the long sides and be face down. Each wall should lie in front of each player running from left to right. The four walls are then pushed together to form a square symbolising the Great Wall of China. It is important to ensure that the walls have no gaps and that they touch at the corners so that any lurking dragons or evil spirits are prevented from entering.

Breaking the Wall Next, East throws the dice to decide who breaks the wall. East counts the players, starting with East, and working anti-clockwise according to the number thrown. The player who sits where the count ends, throws the dice again and adds the total of both throws and then uses this total to count along his wall from right to left. Where the count ends, is where the player breaks the wall, which is done by removing the pair of tiles at that point and placing the top tile on top of the previous tile and the lower tile in a position two positions further anti-clockwise. These two tiles are called "loose tiles". So, by example, if East throws an 11, West will be the chosen player. If West throws the dice again and gets 8, the total thrown will be 19 in which case West will count along all 17 of the tile pairs in the West wall and then finish on the second pair of tiles in the South wall. West would then remove these two tiles and place the top one on the first (right-most) pair of tiles in the South wall. The lower tile would be placed on the 16th tile in West wall.

The Deal Starting after the break (i.e. continuing in a clockwise direction around the wall), four tiles are dealt to each player in turn starting with East and working anti-clockwise until each player has 12 tiles. Next, and continuing in the same direction around the wall, the first and third tiles on the top row are dealt to East, the first on the bottom row to South, the next tile on the top row to West and the next lower tile to North. That completes the deal. East finishes with fourteen tiles while the other players have thirteen tiles each. The Game Objective A player generally tries to collect sets of tiles. The 3 basic sets are as follows: A Pung - a set of 3 identical tiles e.g. 3 x Red Dragons, 3 x Two circles A Kong - a set of 4 identical tiles. e.g. 4 x Eight of Bamboos or 4 x North Winds. A Chow - a run of 3 tiles in the same suit. A Chow does not score and so is only helpful because it can contribute to a hand that allows a player to call Mah Jong. The primary aim of the game is to collect such tiles that allow a player to call "Mah Jong" and go out.

In order to do this, a player must achieve one of the following: A pair, and 4 Pungs, Kongs or Chows A special hand However, the overall aim of the game is to amass a greater score than one's opponents and it should be remembered that it is possible to do this over a series of rounds without ever calling Mah Jong. The Play The first turn, is made by East who discards one tile by placing it face-up on the table inside the remainder of the walls. Each subsequent turn is made by a player taking a tile, optionally playing a tile combination and then discarding a tile. However, which player takes the turn and from where the tile is taken, varies. After each discard, any player who has 2 or 3 tiles that match the discarded tile may take the next turn by calling Mah Jong, Pung or Kong. Such a player, takes the discard and plays the resulting Pung or Kong on the table in front of him or, in the case of Mah Jong, takes the discard and declares all tiles in hand, thus finishing the game. If no player calls Mah Jong, Pung or Kong, then the player to the right of the player who just discarded takes the next turn.

This player may, if he has 2 tiles that can be matched with the discarded tile to form a Chow, call a Chow (the player must then take the discard and play the resulting Chow). Otherwise, this player simply takes a tile from the open end of the wall. If possible and desired, he can then declare a make a Pung, Kong or Chow by laying the combination face down in front of him. The player always finishes a turn by discarding one tile, placing it face-up on the table inside the remainder of the walls. Whenever a Kong is declared, the player must lay all the tiles forming the Kong on the table and immediately take a tile from the wall. A declared Pung can can be converted into a Kong but only using a tile taken from the wall. A Kong can only be made using a discarded tile, if the other three tiles are in hand (concealed). Tiles that have been discarded, unless they are picked up in the following turn, are dead tiles and take no further part in the game. Finishing If all the tiles from the wall are drawn then the game is declared a draw and no scores are made. The tiles are shuffled again and game is restarted with the same player as East wind.

Once a player has reached the point where a player needs one more tile go out, that player declares "one for Mah Jong". This alerts the other players to be more careful with their discards and the player in question is said to be "calling" or "fishing". A player who takes a tile from the wall that makes a completed Mah Jong hand, declares Mah Jong and lays down all tiles. Any player who can form a finished Mah Jong hand with the tile just discarded can call Mah Jong, take the discarded tile and go out. It can happen that one player can call Mah Jong with the discarded tile and another can call Pung or Kong with the discarded tile. In this case the player with Mah Jong takes precedence. It can also happen that more than one player can make Mah Jong with the discarded tile. In this case, the player nearest the right of the player who discarded, wins the dispute, takes the tile and goes Mah Jong. A player cannot declare a Kong and make Mah Jong because a replacement tile must always be taken when declaring a Kong. A player cannot declare Mah Jong and then discard a tile.

In the case where a player takes a tile from the wall and plays it on an already exposed Pung to form a Kong, if another player can use that tile to go out, this player can "Rob the Kong" in order to go Mah Jong. The player simply takes the tile just played and uses it to play a set of his own tiles to go out. Robbing the Kong is only allowed on exposed Kongs with one exception - a player can Rob a hidden Kong in order to complete the "Thirteen Unique Wonders" special hand. Special Hands Special hands are alternative target sets of tiles that a player can go Mah Jong with. The original Chinese game allowed only a few special hands but some Western derivatives controversially include many more. Special Hand Name Pungs/Kongs of any one suit and a pair. No Winds, Dragons or Chows. Double three times The player who went Mah Jong is then paid by the other players the amount scored by his hand. This means that the player who gets Mah Jong always wins the round, even if other players have scored greater amounts. If East wins, the others pay double. If not, East pays double.

Each losing player pays any other losing player with a greater value hand, the difference between the two hands, with East paying and/or receiving double the difference. The following is based on the game rules published by the British Mah-Jong Association. Game Play The game is played in the same way as the Chinese game with the following changes. Flowers and Seasons are part of the rules (see below) although expert players may prefer to omit them. Each player may declare only one Chow per round. In addition to the 10 special hands shown for the Chinese game, the following special hands are also legitimate. Special Hand Name Playing with Flowers and Seasons Use of the Flower and Season tiles is optional. Flowers and Seasons are rarely used by the Chinese or expert players because they increase the element of luck and decrease the element of skill. The Kong Box During the preparation stage, an additional step occurs after the The last preparatory action is to create the "Kong Box", sometimes known as the "Dead Wall". Starting from the break in the wall, and this time counting anti-clockwise, the first six piles of tiles, making a total of fourteen tiles including the loose tiles, are separated slightly from the remainder of the wall.

These tiles are the Kong Box and are used exclusively to provide replacements for Flower, Season and Kong declarations. Building The Wall The wall built in front each player should be 18 tiles long, and consist of 36 tiles. During the game If a Flower or a Season tile is dealt to a player, then that player immediately declares this and replaces it from the Kong Box. Scoring Each Flower or Season counts 4 points. The following also double the basic score for any player: Holding player's own Flower (1=E,2=S,3=W,4=N) Double Two-Player Mah Jong This is good practice for beginners although not quite such a good game as the more typical version with 4 players. One player plays East, the other West. The preliminaries are conducted in the same way as for the 4 player game, 4 walls are built and the game starts with East's discard. The game continues as with the standard game but with the following differences: No chows are allowed and therefore before either player can go Mah Jong, the player must gather four doubles or be entitled to the limit or half-limit score. When scoring, East Wind neither pays nor receives double.

When scoring, the player going Mah Jong has a lower score than the player's opponent, the player with the Mah Jong receives the normal total score plus the difference between the scores. Three-Player Mah Jong There are two main ways to play three-player Mah Jong. One common way to play is with four walls but to have the North wind position as a 'dummy'. The alternative is to play with 3 walls in a triangle. The 'dummy' method results in a satisfactory game but there are a number of special rules that are required and Masters Traditional Games believes that the triangular game for three players is simpler and more elegant and so that is our recommendation. In South East Asia, Triangular Mah Jong is so popular that there are companies who make special triangular Mah Jong tables. Triangular Mah Jong for 3 players eliminates the North position completely and the 4 North wind tiles are removed from the set before starting so that a set of 132 tiles are used. The walls therefore consist of 22 stacks (44 tiles) in a triangle shape and there are 3 hands in each round and 3 or 4 rounds as agreed. Other than that, the game is played in the same way as for 4 player Mah Jong.

If flowers and seasons are included, one season and one flower is removed, usually Winter and Bamboo tiles so that 138 tiles are used and each wall consists of 23 stacks (46 tiles). Mahjong Rules - How To Play Mahjong (2) Creating And Breaking The Wall (3) Dealing The Tiles (4) Drawing The Tiles Picking The Seats – The players initially assume their seats randomly and they pick up a wind tile each. They then put them face down on the table. Then two tiles, one of odd number and the other of even number, are taken and placed face up on either side of the shuffled wind tiles. The wind tiles are sandwiched between the numbered tiles. Now the two (sometimes three) dice are thrown by a random player and the player indicated by the count on the dice is given with the dice. This player again throws the dice and if the count on the dice is odd he picks the wind tile first at the "odd number" end and this course of action passes in the counter clockwise direction as the players pick the subsequent tiles. If the dice count is even, the same process is continued starting from the "even number" end.

The player who got the "East" wind tile takes his respective seat and the remaining players occupy the seats in counter clockwise direction (as seen in the figure above). In a hand each player belongs to a certain wind direction and a wind tile matching the seat’s direction is one’s "Seat Wind" and melding a "Seat Wind" would help a player score more points. The East player is referred to as dealer and after each hand (irrespective of a hand won or lost) the players change their seats and therefore change their wind directions. When we consider the player who sat in the east seat as the east player and also identify the other players with directions of the seats of their first hand, then the directions of their seats in subsequent hands can be visualized as in the figure below: Building And Breaking the wall – As of now the players have assumed their seats. The 136 tiles (144 with flower and season) are shuffled and are placed on the table faced down. Each player now selects 34 tiles (36 if the flower and season tiles are included) and places them on the table arranging them in 2 stacks of 17 tiles (18 with flower and season) each.

These tiles are moved forward by each player forming a hollow square generally referred to as the "Wall". The Wall can be seen in the figure below. The player on the "East" throws the dice to determine the side (direction) where the breaking of the wall procedure has to start. Now as the side is determined by the dice count, the player at this point again throws the dice and the number of tiles (stacks) as in the dice count is counted starting from the right end and are shifted apart slightly to show a distinction thus breaking the wall and these tiles are generally referred to as a "Dead Wall". The tiles on the left of the Dead Wall are known as a "Live Wall". Important Note: The Dead Wall is reserved for the replacement tiles whenever a player has Concealed Kong or when he encounters a flower or season tile. Generally in the Mahjong, whenever a flower or season tile is dealt or drawn from the wall, the tile has to be put aside face up and a replacement tile has to be drawn from the Dead Wall. If the tile drawn from the Dead Wall is again a flower or season tile, this has to be put aside and another tile has to be drawn.

When a player has a Concealed Kong, he can retain it to the end of the hand or else he can declare it to pick up a replacement tile. Dealing The Tiles: East being the priority wind, starts with taking two stacks (that is four tiles) from the Live Wall, followed by the South player taking two stacks, the West player taking two stacks and finally the North player. This continues until the players have twelve tiles each. The players other than the East player pick one tile each and the East player picks two tiles as he has to start formally with the first tile discard. The East player can pick up the last two tiles in two different ways. In one way, he picks two tiles after every other player picks his 12th tile. In a different approach, he picks one tile after everyone has picked his 12th tile and another tile after everyone has picked his 13th. The second way is shown in the figure: Drawing The Tiles: The player to the East side, with an extra tile, starts the play by discarding a tile. The discarded tile is placed face up in the middle of the wall.

The player to the right of the dealer may pick up this discarded tile or can draw a tile from the wall. If the discarded tile is not claimed, the player to the dealer's right ie South draws and discards a tile followed by the West drawing and discarding a tile and finally North drawing and discarding a tile. If the discarded tile is claimed by any of the players, then the player claiming it picks and discards a tile consequently breaking the sequence and the game continues from there. some notes on scoring A player wins when he or she has reached a combination of four triplets, quadruplets or sequences. The end of a game is signalled when a player declares Mahjong or when there are not any unused tiles left, in which case, no one wins. A winning player automatically receives 20 points. In Mahjong, when a player discards a tile, any of the players can claim the tile to Pung or Kong the tile except for a Chow where a Chow can only be made from the discards of the players on the left. If two players in the game try to claim the same discard there is a priority extended to claim the discard as in the following sequence: (1) Going out (declaring Mahjong).

(2) Kong or Pung. (3) Chow. (4) When two players claim the same tile for declaring Mahjong the player to the right of the thrower wins. On making four sets of Chow, Pung, Kong and Pair a player can declare loud "Mahjong" asserting his or her win. A winning hand has 14 tiles in total. After each round the seating position changes or rotates in counter clockwise even if there is a dead hand, where none of players wins. Basic Scoring - Mah Jong Play Solitaire Mahjong Free, A traditional Chinese Tiles Game Buy it! amazon.com amazon.uk amazon.ca Introduction Mah Jong is a game for four players (although two, three or five may play) played at a table with a set of 144 tiles, During the game the players hold 13 tiles. They play as individuals, not as partners. In turn each player draws one file at a time from a stack - known as the wall - or picks up a discard temporarily holding 14 tiles, then puts out one tile. The objective of the game is to be the first player to obtain either a complete set of four defined groups of three of four tiles and one pair, or certain special hands.

The first player to achieve this structure, which need not bring the highest score, wins the hand. Because of the absence of partnerships many find the game more attractive than some card games. It leads to less controversy. The tiles are a joy to behold as well as to handle and play becomes more interesting as the nature of the hand changes with each exchange of tiles. The game still includes many interesting features of the old Chinese game but has been adapted to meet the demands of other countries. A core of enthusiastic American players has introduced limit hands with their own variations. A problem exists with the interpretation of the rules, which may vary from one expert to another, for Clubs and groups a definite set of rules should be established at the start. The advanced player should refer to the specialized books listed in the Bibliography. The intention of this book is to describe the play, clarify the scoring and give some alternative versions for Mah Jong , so that players may select the game that gives them most pleasure. Mah-Jongg Mah Jong - History and Useful Information Mah Jong - History and Useful Information Pre 1920 History Post 1920 History Rules Links Where to Buy Introduction A great deal of bunkum has been written about the origin of Mah Jong.

Both the Chinese, and later, the rest of the world decided to embellish the truth liberally and outrageously for nefarious purposes and the result has been a number of spurious assertions for the game's history. As usual with Chinese games, one theory has it that Confucious invented it and mystical histories of hundreds and even thousands of years have been claimed often by western tradesmen keen to impress their potential customers. All this is very unlikely because the stark truth is that no evidence of the game exists before around 1880. In fact, the history of the game is straightforward and can be viewed in two parts - "until the early 1920s" when the game was almost exclusively played by the Chinese and "after the early 1920s" when the game was discovered and immediately popularised by other nations. A set of 144 Mah Jong tiles consists of 36 tiles in the Bamboo suit, 36 in the Circle suit, 36 in the Character suit, 16 Wind tiles, 12 Dragon tiles and 8 bonus tiles (4 Flowers and 4 Seasons).

The best tiles are made from bamboo and ivory or bone and have beautiful hand-painted pictures representing the face of each tile. Traditionally, the Flowers, Seasons and the One of Bamboos come in for particular artistic creativity. The aim is to collect sets of tiles according to the number and type shown on the face of each tile. A player takes and discards a tile each turn and the first player whose hand consists entirely of a legal set or sets goes out or goes "Mah Jong". The game is effectively the same as the card game Rummy, in fact. For what always appears initially to be a very complicated game, Mah Jong is really remarkably simple when reduced to its basics and it is only the accompanying rituals and complex scoring that change this. One of these rituals, the process of shuffling the tiles at the start of the game, is known as "The twittering of the sparrows", presumably because of the accompanying noise. Since Mah Jong means "the game of the sparrows" or "Sparrow tiles" in Chinese, it seems likely that this is the source of the game's title. The three pictures on this page show an early British Chad Valley game from around 1923/24.

Across the top of the box lid can be seen a very dubious assertion. The tiles are wooden but for a low quality set, the Flowers and Seasons are fairly decorate. History Prior to the 1920s Tile games of some form have been found from around 1120 AD in China and Chinese dominoes has been played for centuries in that region. For more information, see the history of Dominoes . Mah Jong, however, bears a much greater resemblance in play to certain card games, namely those of the Rummy family. Prior to the appearance of Mah Jong, a variety of card games were played in China with at least four types of cards decks. However, just like Mah Jong the majority were of the set-collecting variety and certain terms from these old card games are also used in Mah Jong. So, it seems not unreasonable to place Mah Jong as a nephew of those card games. The conception event that mated the card collection methodology with the tile pieces is usually touted as a missing link and it certainly appears possible that Mah Jong may have been the result of such a unique event although it's just as likely that nothing so straightforward ever occurred.

Here are four theories for contemplation: There is good evidence from Chinese researchers that Mah Jong originated in the provinces of Kiangsu, Anhwei and Chekiang near Shanghai because no records of Mah Jong are found in any other part of China before 1900. Beyond that, one theory from Canton states that the inventor was Hung Hsiu-Ch'uan, the Cantonese who led a rebellion and proclaimed himself Emperor of Nanking. It's certainly feasible that the game appeared in his court which was famous for its hedonistic pursuit of pleasure and entertainment. A rival theory believes that the inventor was an inhabitant of Ningpo in Chekiang which is famous for its ivory carving. It is believably claimed that playing cards used for an earlier game were for the first time recreated as ivory tablets here. A third, credits a pair of brothers in Ningpo with the act of transposing playing cards used for the game of Ma-Tiao onto ivory and bamboo about 1870 or 1880 and advances that a magistrate of Chekiang province became an enthusiast who promoted the game and made it popular throughout Chekiang. A quite detailed account of this was given by one T. E.

Pun and there is no doubt that Ma-Tiao is similar enough to Mah Jong to be reasonably certain that it is, indeed, its direct ancestor. More cynical authors note that the Chinese term for card, "P'ai", actually simply means "playing rectangle" and the same word is used for such objects whether they be made of paper, card, bamboo, bone, ivory or any other solid material. Evidence shows that many P'ai games recorded through history had always been played on both tiles and cards interchangeably. This certainly spoils a good story but it is just as likely that no "invention" ever really took place and that a much more blurred development is the fact of the matter. Regardless, the game that sprang from this area of China, almost certainly a descendant of the card game Ma-Tiao, was initially somewhat rough around the edges. In 1905, Mah Jong was not really known outside its original area but over the next 15 years it spread incredibly quickly across most of China and in doing so supplanted Chess as the most popular Chinese game. The Chinese gradually removed the inelegant elements of game play and incorporated a bevy of rituals surrounding the method of play that have now become enshrined in stone.

Most of these rituals occur at the start of the game and are to do with the shuffling, the building of the four walls in a square, the deal and the splitting of the wall to form the "Kong box". To a beginner, they seem mystifying and unnecessary but the truth is that Mah Jong is, by origin, a gambling game and most of these elements prevent cheating very effectively, a factor that is important when the stakes are high..... These gradual improvements that nominally were concluded between 1910 and 1920, produced a game of mathematical beauty as well as being physically aesthetic. Certain authors wax lyrical for a great many pages about the mystic and harmonious background to this process and the result. Suffice to say that numerous aficionados of the game regard the variety of Mah Jong of 1920 as the "perfect" Mah Jong and look upon all future modifications and evolutions with great disdain. In fact, at this time, the Chinese played a ream of variations in rules and procedures according to the locale and the seriousness of the game, and so there was nothing clear-cut about the Chinese game of the 1920s which was as unregulated then as it is now.

However, the game had come about with a natural regard for playability and elegance History after 1920s When the West "discovered" the game around 1920 the Mah Jong craze enlarged by another factor again to encompass much of the world. Many regions in the Far East play a game akin to the classical Chinese form but in particular, the British, the Americans and the Japanese all grabbed the game and ran with it in their own direction. Mah Jong first hit Japan in 1907 and, like North America and the British Empire, became a fad in the 1920s. A similar but less dramatic experience to that of America occurred in that the initial game was simplified and then complicated again with new rules. However, the Japanese managed to do this without completely altering the underlying nature of the game and thus the game has remained steadily popular. Japanese rules take two general forms - those adopted officially by the Japanese Mah Jong Association and "riichi", all the unofficial but sometimes more popular versions played by casual players. However, the main differences from the classical Chinese game are consistent in both. The primary modification is that the winner is paid by all players so that there are no points for second place.

Unlike other variants, therefore, each Japanese round is an all-out race to be the first to go Mah Jong as opposed to a more careful campaign with the long term objective of amassing the greatest number of points over a series of games. Mah Jong was taken to America by Joseph P. Babcock who began importing sets in bulk to the USA in 1922. In order to make it a commercial success, Babcock heavily simplified the rules, many of the interesting intricacies of play being removed. While this worked to a degree because the game did indeed become popular very quickly, Americans were not satisfied for long with this version. Consequently they began to embellish it, by the addition of an array of weird and wonderful "special hands" that allowed one to go Mah Jong and other new rules supposed to increase the enjoyment. The result was confusion. The two most popular variations of the game in 1924 were the One-Double and the Cleared-Hand games and little was known of the classical form from China. While superficially more enjoyable, after a short time, people lost interest in these games and consequently, the Mah Jong bubble burst.

In 1935, the game began to gain again in popularity in America based on newly published rules from the The National Mah Jong League Inc. who still claim to produce the "official" American rules. Unfortunately, rather than go back to the essence of the original form, the same error was repeated and an effort to simply fix the flawed existing American games was made. This complicated and pushed American Mah Jong even further from the original form. Indeed, it is now so different from the original Mah Jong that it is effectively a different game, its most notable feature being the enormous number of legal special hands. In Britain, an explosion of interest occurred about the same time as the initial bubble in America and this was mirrored in many other parts of the British Empire, especially in India. For instance, Chad Valley first published the game in 1923. Both the American and the Chinese forms were played but, unlike most Americans, the British understood that the Chinese version was the "real" game and that the American and other versions were modern forms. The most popular variations were based on semi-official rules in circulation - The Queens Club Rules and the rules laid down in a booklet by C.M.W Higginson.

Both of these were based on Chinese variants which probably accounts for the fact that the game remained popular in Britain well into the 1930s - considerably longer than in America - although interest dwindled between the wars. Nowadays, although the usual proliferation of rules exists, the British Mah Jong Federation publish a set of rules that are a distillation of the way that Mah Jong has been played in Britain during the 20th century and these rules are closer to the Chinese game than the Japanese or American varieties. The main differences are that only one Chow is allowed per person per round and that a few additional special hands are permitted. A variety of Mah Jong Sets from Masters Traditional Game Shop. Rules It is worth repeating that probably more than any other indoor game, there are no standard rules for Mah Jong. However...... Masters Traditional Games provides free game rules based on the original Chinese and British games.

Mahjong Tile Replacements | Mahjong Tiles Museum Museum NOTE: Orders placed on or after January 16, 2017 will be processed/shipped on/after February 4, 2017 The game is known as Mahjong, Mah Jong, Mah Jongg, Pung Chow, Ma Jeuk, Pe Ling, Tung Wah, Ma Chiang, Ning Po, and Ma Jung--just to name a few. It doesn't matter if you're playing Hong Kong Style, National Mah Jongg League, Japanese Style, Philippines Style, Singapore Style or your own house rules. The basic game of the "Four Winds" is the same. "Pung...Chow...Kong...Sihk!" Originating in China a long time ago--exactly when is still being debated--mahjong has enjoyed a 21st Century rebirth in popularity. Back in 1920, an American named Joseph Babcock introduced "Mah Jongg" to the United States and ever since, it has been a popular game here and the world over. Do you love to play mahjong? Do you have a set that you can't use because you're missing one or more tiles?

Do you use the National Mah Jongg League Standard Hands, but need extra flower or joker tiles? Do you have an old set that has mismatched or off-colored tiles? Do you just need a few spare tiles? If you answered, "YES!" to any of these questions, we hope mahjongtiles™ will help you. Information Mahjong Online - Free Mahjong Games Mahjong Online Mahjong (originated in China) is the most popular tile puzzle game around. This site hosts the most popular mahjong games you can find online. Can you beat the best Mahjong players? Here are the latest high scores: Recent Game Scores: How to Play Mahjong A traditional single player Mahjong game has 144 tiles. They are arranged in various layouts so that they faces are upwards. Tiles are considered exposed when there are no tiles above them and there are no tiles blocking them either from their left or their right side. The goal of Mahjong is to remove all the tiles from the board. There is only one way to remove tiles and that is to match two identical tiles that are exposed. Once you locate two tiles that can be removed - click on each tile of the pair they will disappear from the board.

You need to remove one pair at a time and you should do it carefully. If you get to a situation where all the pairs are blocked you will lose the game. The best way to get ahead in Mahjong is to make sure you remove pairs that will open up as many unblocked tiles as possible. Don't remove the obvious pairs you see upfront, think ahead and try matching tiles that will make more possibilities and more pairing available for future moves. Mahjong Tiles Traditional Mahjong tiles are organized in sets - Charactes, Bamboos, Circles, Dragons, Winds, Season and Flowers. On most cases you need to match identical tiles except for Seasons and Flowers where you can match any pair of the same set. Character

Question: Which game features the terms Winds, Dragons, Flowers and Seasons?
Answer: Mah-jong